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The Feast at Solhaug : Henrik Ibsen's play Gildet paa Solhaug (1856) inspired Wilhelm Stenhammer's opera Gillet på Solhaug. The world premiere recording is now available via Sterling CD, in a 3 disc set which includes full libretto and background history.

‘Can great music be inspired by the throw of the dice?’ asks Peter Phillips, director of The Tallis Scholars, in his liner notes to the ensemble’s new recording of Josquin’s Missa Di dadi (The Dice Mass). The fifteenth-century artist certainly had an abundant supply of devotional imagery. As one scholar has put it, during this age there was neither ‘an object nor an action, however trivial, that [was] not constantly correlated with Christ or salvation’.

Francesco Cavalli’s La Calisto was the composer’s ﬁfteenth opera, and the ninth to a libretto by Giovanni Faustini (1615-1651). First performed at the Teatro Sant’Apollinaire in Venice on 28th November 1651, the opera by might have been sub-titled ‘Gods Behaving Badly’, so debauched are the deities’ dalliances and deviations, so egotistical their deceptions.

Edouard Lalo (1823-92) is best known today for his instrumental works: the
Symphonie espagnole (which is, despite the title, a five-movement
violin concerto), the Symphony in G Minor, and perhaps some movements from his
ballet Namouna, a scintillating work that the young Debussy adored.

It is not often that a major work by a forgotten composer gets rediscovered
and makes an enormously favorable impression on today’s listeners. That has
happened, unexpectedly, with Herculanum, a four-act grand opera by
Félicien David, which in 2014 was recorded for the first time.

This recording, made in the Adrian Boult Hall at the Birmingham Conservatoire of Music in June 2014, is the fourth disc in SOMM’s series of recordings with Paul Spicer and the Birmingham Conservatoire Chamber Choir.

This well-packed disc is a delight and a revelation. Until now, even the
most assiduous record collector had access to only a few of the nearly 100
songs published by Félicien David (1810-76), in recordings by such notable
artists as Huguette Tourangeau, Ursula Mayer-Reinach, Udo Reinemann, and Joan
Sutherland (the last-mentioned singing the duet “Les Hirondelles”
with herself!).

This new release of John Taverner’s virtuosic and florid Missa
Corona spinea (produced by Gimell Records) comes two years after The
Tallis Scholars’ critically esteemed recording of the composer’s
Missa Gloria tibi Trinitas, which topped the UK Specialist Classical
Album Chart for 6 weeks, and with which the ensemble celebrated their
40th anniversary. The recording also includes Taverner’s two
settings of Dum transisset Sabbatum.

Sounds swirl with an urgent emotionality and meandering virtuosity on Jonas Kaufmann’s new Puccini album—the “real one”, according
to Kaufmann, whose works were also released earlier this year on Decca records, allegedly without his approval.

As the editor of Opera magazine, John Allison, notes in his editorial in the June issue, Donizetti fans are currently spoilt for choice, enjoying a ‘Donizetti revival’ with productions of several of the composer’s lesser known works cropping up in houses around the world.

This Winterreise is the final instalment of Matthias Goerne’s series of Schubert lieder for Harmonia Mundi and it brings the Matthias Goerne Schubert Edition, begun in 2008, to a dark, harrowing close.

Recordings

29 Mar 2006

Franz Schubert: The Trout • The Greatest Love and The Greatest Sorrow

In this compelling documentary, Christopher Nupen has captured rare and wondrous collaborations by some of the greatest twentieth century performers as they pay tribute to an early nineteenth century musical treasure, Franz Schubert.

Recognizing the enormous talent of the relatively unknown musicians (at the time), in the first film, Nupen documented the rehearsals and an inspired performance of a young chamber ensemble as they discover the enormous musical potential of Schubert’s Trout Quintet. The ensemble comprised of Daniel Barenboim, Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman, Jacqueline du Pré, and Zubin Mehta clearly demonstrated through their enlightened interactions and mutual respect for each other’s abilities why each is now regarded as a musical giant of their generation.

From watching their fun-loving bantering, one truly gets the sense that this chamber ensemble brought together by Barenboim is made up of the best of friends, and that this video recording represents an enormously joyous time in their lives. Audiences today are fortunate at having this glimpse at their personal and professional lives while they express such delight in putting together Schubert’s most famous piano quintet. Unbeknownst to any of the performers at the time, this film was destined to be one of the most frequently broadcast classical music performances of the twentieth century. In a lot of ways, some of the highly artistic moments represented by the performers in this documentary mirror Schubert’s own talents as a composer who possessed enormous musical maturity at such a young age when he composed the Trout, as well as a endless devotion towards his family and friends.

As the personalities of the players unfold in the first film of the recording, so does that of Schubert in the second film, The Greatest Love and the Greatest Sorrow. Although Schubert only reached the age of 31, while his life was short in years, it was abundantly rich in accomplishments with close to a thousand known works to his credit. It seems Nupen produced this film with the intent to lay bare Schubert’s life so that modern-day listeners can truly appreciate the remarkable undertakings of this prodigious musician of humble means. Rather than offering the usual historical narrative one would expect from a biographical documentary, Nupen shares with audiences Schubert’s intimate letters to his family and friends, his poetry, even a dream Schubert had written down. As the film progresses, audiences begin to understand Franz Schubert the human being, his motivations and inspirations, and on some level, get to know him for the gentle soul made transparent through his writings. Christopher Nupen has in essence revived Schubert through a well-crafted audio/visual medium.

Recommended to all musicians and music lovers, it is important to note that the music itself is a fundamental element of the two films that make up this commendable video recording. While audiences today recognize the significant value of Schubert’s intellectual output, it is equally important when discussing this film to recognize the ingenious vision of Christopher Nupen, and the talents of the performers whose conscientious interpretations honor the composer’s legacy. Bass-baritone Andreas Schmidt was featured several times throughout the film, interpreting Schubert’s songs with appropriate drama and meticulous phrasing. His rich tone seemed added a profundity to his interpretations that reflected Schubert’s musical substance.